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It's a very good ugly knife. The handle is junk. The factory edge stinks, the scratch pattern is rough and the grinding work done on the blade was obviously fast and sloppy.

With some work on the stones it does cut well. If this knife came with a better handle it would be worth the 150$ price. I do enjoy this knife more than the more expensive Kohetsu. The problem with the Kohetsu is that it's so thin and relatively flat grind. Food release of potatoes is not very good when speed chopping.

I like that the Tanaka retains a toothy edge and can bite into a tomato without too much fuss. I've polished the knife with a 1k and a 5k...I still have factory grind marks on the very edge of the blade....

I think it's a workhorse knife...not intended to be pretty. It's a good knife if you want an ugly rustic piece of metal. The real selling point of this blade to me was owning a traditionally forged blade without spending too much.

I like the way the blades have a thickness then get ground thinner. Oh yeah and the convex...just makes carrots release nicely. If the upper end Tanaka knives feature more refinement with the same style grind I'll probably consider another one.

It's a really ugly workhorse knife with horrible cosmetic flaws. I like think of it as the rusty VW bug with a Porsche engine

Bikeman

Post subject: Re: Tanaka Kurouchi 240MM Gyuto

Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2014 9:28 pm

Joined: Thu Jun 13, 2013 12:25 pmPosts: 444

Umberto: you are correct the Tanaka Sekiso series gyutos are more refined knives with great cutting performance. The blade is a nicely finished carbon demascus . The finish of the spine and choil is ok , I lightly sanded mine to round it more. The blade is what makes it a stand out and a good buy in the 210 and 240 size. Good grind and excellent convexing. The blue #2 steel takes and holds a nice edge. Check out Tim Johnson's( TAZ575) many comments when you search the Tanaka Sekiso.

taz575

Post subject: Re: Tanaka Kurouchi 240MM Gyuto

Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2014 9:41 pm

Forum Moderator

Joined: Thu Apr 26, 2012 5:13 pmPosts: 3057Location: CT

Yeah, the Sekiso are much nicer. With the Ginsan and Kurouchi Tanaka, you get the blade performance with lesser thought on the cosmetics. Wabi Sabi is used in Japan to explain this, and it refers to imperfections because it is made by hand by a human. The Kurouchi style knives in Japan are often somewhat rough F&F wise, but once you clean them up a bit, they really perform well. You save some $$$ usually over the fancier polished and more refined knives, but get good performance for the price and some elbow grease for cleaning them up a bit.

Eldergeek

Post subject: Re: Tanaka Kurouchi 240MM Gyuto

Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2014 3:39 pm

Joined: Sun Jun 01, 2014 4:32 pmPosts: 152Location: Cape Town , SA

Had my Kurouchi 210 a week now, on arrival the above mentioned flaws where fixed with a bit of sanding on the choil and handle, I then took it to a 10° edge on the EP and it was slicing like a beast, on plastic it was cutting into the board on wood no problem , this is my first J Knife and for the $129 worth very penny, I love the carbon steel sharpens nicely , no need to go above 4K on the SG stones, after the 10° I decided to put a 2nd 15° edge on and it's perfect for me.I know most think the Tanaka looks ugly , but my wife said on the arrival it is exactly what a Japanese knife should look like, and not like the glimmering knives we see in most kitchens, I thinks it's got class!

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